The Future of Crystal Mountain

Artist's rendering of the view from the Lodge of the new Inn Residences, Crystal Mountain's newest project.

For nearly 60 years, Crystal Mountain has been a place where
families and friends gather to experience the best of Northern Michigan
and create precious memories. To preserve its unique character, Crystal
Mountain's design is guided by a disciplined master plan titled Emergent Directions.

Emergent Directions is Crystal Mountain's blueprint for thoughtful, steady development to preserve and enhance the kind of Northern Michigan place for which people yearn. It
defines a 21st Century, carefully planned pedestrian-oriented community
that is deeply rooted in its Northern Michigan heritage.

A Timeline of Thoughtful Improvements

Over
the past 15 years, many elements of Emergent Directions have come to
fruition. In 2002 the three-story, 28,000-square-foot Kinlochen opened,
housing Crystal's golf pro shop and the Nordic Center, a year-round
restaurant, and 12 unique one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums on
the upper two levels. Another addition, the North Face slopes, opened that same year adding 11 downhill runs and a quad chairlift on the north side of the mountain.

Between 2004 and 2006, the Park and Cottages at Water's Edge,
a $13 million investment, was completed. This project includes a
one-acre outdoor waterpark and playground, a 32-foot climbing wall, an
outdoor hot tub, and the 5,000-square-foot building with locker rooms, the
Park at Water's Edge activity and retail area, and staff offices. TheCottages at Water's Edge development is comprised of two- and three-bedroom dwellings that recall Northern Michigan cottages in the early 1900s.

Crystal
Mountain solidified its commitment to healthy lifestyles and
environmental stewardship with the Crystal Spa and remodeled Peak Pool
& Fitness Center that opened in January 2009. This nationally
acclaimed 18,500-square-foot facility is at the core of the resort and
is a mecca for relaxation, renewal and rejuvenation. In keeping with
Crystal's dedication to sustainable practices, it is the only spa in the
Midwest to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
certified.

Despite
the downturn in the economy, Crystal Mountain kept its focus forward
and between 2008 and 2012, added the Bungalows at Crystal Glen. This
slopeside community features eight three- and four-bedroom units built
in the historic architectural style characteristic of Michigan’s Arts
and Crafts bungalows from the early 1900s.

Trailside,
Crystal’s newest whole-ownership neighborhood, is a collection of
clustered homesites linked by hiking and cross-country ski trails, and
nestled into the woods between four holes on the resort’s signature
Mountain Ridge golf course. A number of Trailside cabins have been
constructed in Trailside’s first four phases, with the fifth and final
phase yet on the docket.

On
the mountain, two new lifts were added between 2011 and 2013. First,
the $1.3 million Loki Quad chairlift and loading conveyor was completed
in fall of 2011, serving the newly reconfigured Loki/Thor ski complex,
and in 2013, a new quad chairlift was installed on Buck, bringing with
it three new runs, plus snowmaking and grooming additions which
together, represented an additional $4 million in improvements to the
slopes.

Current Projects

A transformation
25 years in the making to Crystal’s village core will soon be taking
form at Crystal Mountain, bringing with it an expansion to the Inn at the Mountain. Plans
for the three-story, 27,000-square-foot expansion to the Inn at the
Mountain, which is located at the hub of the resort’s activities, include a coffee and wine bar, specialty grocery, and retail
space on the lower level, and eight two- and three-bedroom condominiums –
the “Inn Residences” – on the upper two levels. Pre-sales
are currently underway on the Inn Residences, which are offered as an
eighth-share ownership opportunity, with groundbreaking expected toward
the end of summer 2015.

As
part of this expansion, the plaza between the Inn and the Lodge
will undergo a major transformation as well. Once completed the Village Plaza, located at the heart of the resort, will
feature waterscaping, ornamental grasses, sweeps of massed perennials, and flowering shrubs and trees, and offer a variety of gathering
and relaxation areas of all sizes.

Speaking
of breaking ground, the summer of 2015 will also find even more dirt
moving as 5-6 additional ski slopes will be added on the backside of the
mountain, in between the Ridge and North Face slope complexes, in time
for the 2015/2016 winter season. These yet-to-be-named slopes have been
designed by the SE Group of Vermont, which also designed the Ridge and
North Face slopes.

Looking Ahead

Still
part of Emergent Directions are additional on-mountain, golf course
-oriented residential developments, plus on-going snowmaking and
recreational improvements. The vision for Crystal's future
as documented in Emergent Directions is an evolving road map that guides
all land use decisions. It is not a static plan, but rather dynamic,
and can adapt to changes in market conditions. With an iterative
approach to development, Crystal Mountain continues to carefully plan
its future development to meet market preferences and to create
sustainable value over time.